ATLANTA, GA-It is now well established that there are a
host of
medical conditions that can be prevented if issues are
addressed. For
example, proper diet, blood pressure, blood sugar and weight
control,
quitting smoking, exercise, pregnancy health, and many others.
Most of
these issues can be initially introduced under the guidance of
a doctor
who is acquainted with the medical conditions and consequences
of
preventative measures.

In 1995, U.S. government health researchers surveyed doctors by
evaluating 29,272 office visits. The study was just published
in the
journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (1998;47:91-94).
The journal
is the flagship publication of the Centers for Disease Control
and
Prevention (CDC).

According to the study just released by the CDC, only 19% of
doctors
talked with patients about exercise, 23% discussed diet and a
paltry 10%
counseled their patients on losing weight.

Remarkably, quitting smoking was discussed with only 41% of
smokers
during office visits! Putting it the other way around, doctors
did NOT
discuss smoking with 59% of their smoking patients!

The study found that men were more likely to be counseled
against
smoking than women. And older patients were more likely to be
counseled
than younger patients. As to geography, U.S. Midwesterners were
most
likely to get advice and Southerners the least likely,
according to the
CDC study referred to as the National Ambulatory Medical Care
Survey.

A Reuter's news release quotes Dr. Philip Greenland, the
chairman of
preventive medicine at the Northwestern School of Medicine in
Chicago,
Illinois, "Many studies have shown that physician advice
is a
powerful motivational tool to help patients be more compliant
with new
behaviors that can help reduce their risk of disease." He
adds, "What
this study shows us is that we have along way to go before we
have
achieved our goal of effective patient counseling. As healthcare
providers, we must accept some of the blame for patient
noncompliance."